Oak Ridge Today

Opinion: Liquor licensees—changing the rules in the middle of the game?

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Ellen Smith (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

At the Monday night City Council meeting, some rules got changed in the middle of the game. That was unsportsmanlike—and it was not business-friendly.

Oak Ridge has an ordinance (dating back nearly 50 years) requiring that owners and operators of retail liquor establishments (liquor stores) must be city residents, unless Council votes to waive the requirement. And Council has routinely waived that residency requirement for everyone who requests a waiver. I’m not aware that anyone was ever denied a waiver—and very few liquor sellers actually live in the city.

Since we don’t require owners of any other type of business to live in the city and since the residency requirement hasn’t been enforced, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to keep it on the books. It’s just one of several antiquated ordinances related to liquor that need to be updated (a topic I’ve discussed with legal staff). But we have to live with it for now. [Read more…]

Guest column: Trying to set the record straight on the property tax rate

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Online comments by local citizens in response to some recent guest columns about city and county budgets and taxes have revealed some mistaken notions about the way property tax rates are established in Tennessee cities and counties. I want to set the record straight regarding a couple of misconceptions about property tax that I see being spread in recent public discussions.

On the Oak Ridge Today website, citizen Andrew Howe posted a comment saying:

“The property tax rate should NEVER have to increase. It is basically a percentage of the value of the home, right? And if the value of the home rises (as it should, in line with the cost of living), then the taxes will also rise.”

I can’t quarrel with Mr. Howe’s logic, but his conclusions are wrong. This is because he makes an assumption that is valid in many states but isn’t valid in Tennessee.

Under Tennessee law, when properties are reappraised, state officials calculate—and publicize—the property tax rate that will give the local government the same total amount of property tax that it was getting from existing properties before the reappraisal. (This calculated rate is called the “certified tax rate.”) That’s the new baseline tax rate. If a local government in Tennessee wants to get more property tax revenue after a reappraisal, the governing body has to vote to increase the tax rate above the certified rate. [Read more…]

Guest column: Tempest over city manager tuition request

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Ellen Smith

Ellen Smith

Monday evening’s City Council agenda has drawn a lot more attention from media and citizens than usual—likely a result of the agenda having been published almost a week earlier than usual.

The item drawing the most attention (from the News Sentinel, Oak Ridge Today, the Observer, and the Oak Ridger, as well as a lot of negative comment from citizens)—whether to reimburse City Manager Mark Watson’s tuition for his Ph.D. program at the University of Tennessee—came a surprise to me because it had been only lightly discussed by the Council committee that considered the city manager’s performance evaluation—and we had not voted on it, much less made a recommendation to the full Council.

Because of the number of questions and comments I’ve gotten on this item, I’m presenting my viewpoint on the tuition tempest here for everyone’s benefit.

[Read more…]